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This period property which is based in the Primrose Hill conservation area, was built in the mid 1800’s. Part of Chalcot Square, it had a long, overgrown and rather dense garden.

The build was completed in the summer of 2014, the original London yellow brick garden walls were freed from a heavy blanket of dark Ivy. Smooth modern cut sandstone paving adds a level of refinement to the patio area around the house and a lower level parterre is paved with coarse red brick and ornate edging. At night the garden is lit, offering views which extend the feeling of space from the house.

The planting consists of gravel beds with relaxed perennials in shades of pink, blue and white. These are set off by edges of formal clipped box, which add formality and balance the design. Climbers were chosen to creep over the walls and will give off heady scents all year round.

The new terrace is designed for entertaining and the seating area offers a place to relax and look out towards the garden. Beautiful large jars and sculptures decorate the garden and draw the eye through it.

Sculpture can be so important in an outdoor space; it creates focus, intensifies the sense of place and relates to the vegetation, light and the seasonality of a garden.

We also love it when sculptures are used as physical punctuation; at the end of a long view, they become a full stop, or a comma as they lead onto another space or another sculpture.

We love the work of Charlotte Mayer, a Goldsmiths graduate. One of her pieces ‘The Thornflower’ commemorates the death of her grandmother in Treblinka at the hands of the Nazis, but at the same time represents the hope of reconciliation. Her work has wonderful movement and would enchant and enhance the right space.

More information on Charlotte can be found on The Garden Gallery’s website, amongst many other talented artists.

We have been hard at work on this roof terrace for a wonderful large eco house in Holland Park. The house is a large, minimal new build and the owners are keen gardeners that wanted something beautiful to be in and look at from their bedroom window.

Currently the whole space is decked and pretty characterless, although it has some good London views and overlooks a working community garden space.

We wanted to make the space as green and secluded as possible, there are views through two large sliding glass doors out onto the terrace, one from the hallway and study area and one from the clients bedroom, so it is the first thing they see upon waking.

Particular attention was paid to the impact of the weight bearing of the building so Cat Howard worked alongside FORM Structural Design to achieve the most suitable solution. The paving was laid on a Caro support system and the planters were part filled with polystyrene blocks and then GT4 low bulk density soil to keep them within weight. The terrace also has a full irrigation system for the summer months and lighting which highlights the plants atmospherically, lengthening the use of the terrace on warm evenings and providing a beautiful night time view from the house.

Large deep planters line the edges and a single central planter defines the dining area from the seating area, and trees will provide lovely green screening from the neighbours but not block them out or cut the owners off from their community.

The ground is cut grey sandstone with strips of gravel in which Thyme and Chamomile will be planted and which will release scent when walked upon. In this way and others the planting plan pays particular attention to olfactory perception, something which was of utmost importance to the client.

The garden is now complete and awaiting spring for its first proper photoshoot.

A big thank you goes out to The Outdoor Room whose experienced team carried out the build on the roof terrace with great efficiency and to a quality finish.

Before

Work commences and the old terrace is taken apart

The stone paving and the generous planters go in and planting commences

The Outdoor Room hard at work

We will upload photos of the finished garden after it has had some time to establish this spring.
Here are the mood images and the planting plan

A little imagination goes a very long way for the architectural design duo aptly named The Practice of Everyday Design. They took a log, hired a lumberjill who hacked holes into it, then a motorcycle saddle maker lined the holes with hand-sewn upholstered flame red material. The result is a pretty saucy bit of furniture which would look mightily appealing surrounded by lush green plants.

Eric Cahan is a contemporary New York artist, he makes wonderful polyester resin sculptures are three-dimensional interpretations of his photographs of skies “My work is meant to capture a moment in nature, asking and empowering the viewer to be fully present, involved, and uplifted. I want the viewer to be drawn in, and be completely absorbed by, rather than separate from, that fleeting moment in time.”

I have been away for a while, pondering life, designing my website, enjoying friends and designing gardens. Upon graduating from Inchbald with a Postgraduate Diploma, Andrew Duff asked me to be one of the studio tutors, I was delighted and continue to enjoy this very satisfying and educational role. I feel very lucky after a year of studies to finally be realising a dream; designing gardens has long been of interest to me and has so far proved to be a wonderful, worthwhile and rewarding vocation.

The website is up and running now, cathoward.co.uk. You will see that I have recently built my first garden. The space will be photographed professionally next spring when the plants are a bit more established. It is beautifully lit at night, has a lovely relaxed feel to it, the clients love it and I can’t wait to visit them again next spring to see it in evolution.

Currently I am working on some planting plans for a beautiful Welsh country garden and a town garden in Battersea.